Hi all,

I just wanted to introduce myself and give you a little bit of my story.


Long story a not so short, I was a fat kid, did weight watchers before I started Jr high and stayed thin (140-150) from 7th grade through the demise of my first (miserable and abusive) marriage in 1992--age 26. The following year I met my current dh -- the most wonderful guy-- and over the last ten years have put on...hmmm...70 lbs or so.

Time and again I've seen that when I'm happy and comfortable, I gain weight. Miserable, I lose. Part of my weight gain was defiance, I believe. I wanted to show my first dh -- or maybe myself-- that I was lovable, even without the perfect body. I was his trophy wife in a big way and I remember weighing 126 (I’m a hair over 5'9") and him telling me how fat I was getting.

I've yo-yo'd between 210 and 180 for the past five years-- beginning with my daughter's birth, but I can't really blame it on the preganancy. I was 188 when I delivered her and back down to 170 two weeks later. In 2001, I lo-carbed my way down to 185, and for some reason switched to weight watchers--most likely because everyone I knew was doing it. I managed to maintain 185-190 with regular workouts and moderate eating until this past fall when I started a really stressful and time-consuming job that left me no time for the gym (or anything else, really).

As of February 18th of 2002, that job is history and I've been low-carbing since. I've gone from over 221 (I was afraid to go any higher when that number wouldn't balance on the scale at the gym) to 201 as of this morning. I'm back to the gym regularly and I'm determined to see this through.

Eight of those low carb days were spent in Disney World and I managed to keep my vacation gain to 4 lbs. That's with Tom arriving the day after our return last Thursday. I was pretty pleased with myself for staying in control on vacation.

Speaking of tom, those chocolate cravings pushed me to try some sugar-free russell stover caramels this weekend and boy I thought I was going to die. The pain, the bloating, the misery... blargh. It was just nasty. And that's how I came to find you guys-- doing some research on this candy and its affects.

I spent most of the weekend reading through this site...and wow, what a great group of people you all are. Really really interesting, informative and funny. So I'm going off to start a journal and I'll post this there too.

Tammy

Hi Tammy and welcome....

Think about staying a while and starting a journal. I find that having to post my daily menus really keeps me in line and also has give me so many new friends from which I get constant advice and support.

All the best to you.

Thanks for the welcome, Lisa.

I did start a journal over in the Ms...I think it will be good for me to keep track of my food in public